"We Hear You: Evidence from Chinese State-run Media’s Selective Engagement with International News" - by CWP fellow Lucie Lu
Autocrats have always sought to win the hearts and minds of their citizens, but whether they are more capable of achieving this goal through direct interactions with citizens on social media is an open question. This study examines the communication strategies of Chinese state-run media on social media regarding international news. While state run media can censor or circumvent foreign information for domestic online audiences, they can also leverage the features of social media to engage in discussions surrounding Western news with a professional journalist demeanor. I draw on observational data from triangular sources on a dominant social media platform in China, Weibo, to reveal how state-run media engage with international news. Their engagement manifests in two modes, neutrally or sensationally. Neutral engagement entails disseminating fact based news reporting while sensational engagement may trigger anti-foreign sentiments. In contrast to the conventional belief that the online discourse is fueled with emotional and nationalist desires, the more neutral and moderate approach adopted by state-run media in their narratives is likely to elicit positive evaluations of the host government or exacerbate negative perceptions of the foreign country’s situation, particularly in the case of the U.S. This paper demonstrates how the nuanced media strategies employed by state-run media in engaging the online public on social media can engender greater public support for the government than previously assumed.
Lucie Lu is a Post-doctoral Fellow in the China and the World Program at SIPA, teaching REGNU6880: China in International Human Rights Regime in Spring 2024. She studies international relations with a regional focus on China. She studies how a rising power like China shapes international norms by uncovering its motivations, strategies, and constraints in this process. Her research delves into China’s global influences in three international regimes: media, human rights and foreign aid. She has received her Ph.D. in political science at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in 2023.
Photo Credit: By The logo may be obtained from Sina Weibo., Fair use, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?curid=29464198
